The Flight of Icarus
by Kikachubachan
Summary: Icarus's famous flight from his POV. Written for English class.


A/N: I know, this is another school assignment that I decided to upload. Wow, a lot of my school assignments involve writing fanfiction...

Anyway, I love Greek mythology, and we were supposed to write about the flight of Icarus, so this is just a rewrite of that story, which is actually one of my favorite Greek myths. I got a really good grade on this but my English teacher is also easily impressed so here.

Oh, and this is an Icarus POV.

* * *

"Icarus? Icarus!"

I felt my father's cold hand grip my shoulder and give it a rough shake, trying to wake me. My eyes shot open and my head jerked up as soon as I felt his hand.

"You're awake," he said, half to himself.

"Yes, father, I am. What do you need? Why did you wake me?" I glanced around the cold, harsh Labyrinth, wondering what endlessness we would wander into today.

"Son," said Daedalus, "We are finally getting out of this Labyrinth. Today, I mean it!" I saw a mixture of emotions glistening in his eyes, joy, pride, maybe even a hint of something untold.

It took a minute for the words to sink into my mind; for me to finally realize what was happening. My eyes widened and I shook my head. "R-really?" I wasn't even quite sure how long my father and I had been imprisoned in the endless Labyrinth that he constructed himself for King Minos. It felt like an eternity.

King Minos hid the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, where he sent people to be killed by it, and if they weren't, they'd be lost forever in the maze. My father made some special thread that he gave to Princess Ariadne, who in turn gave it to Theseus, who used it to escape the Labyrinth after killing the Minotaur. King Minos found out what my father had done, he shut us both in here to die, and that would soon be over if I could trust my father to be right.

My father nodded his head vigorously. "Take a look," at that moment, Father turned around behind him and picked up a giant pair of wings, "at these." They were crudely made, none of the feathers matched, and they looked like they could break apart at any second. But… they were wings!

I came back to myself and gathered the sense to raise an eyebrow at my father, questioning the purpose of the wings.

"So," he began, making wide gesticulations with the wings, "I designed this Labyrinth specifically so no one could escape, not even me, so we can't escape on foot. The shores of Crete are heavily guarded, so there's no leaving by sea. The only way," he looked longingly out the wide stone window, "is air."

I cocked my head to the side. "So we're… flying away?" My face lit up as father nodded his head in confirmation. I just couldn't believe it. People don't fly, they _can't _fly, until today that is. I jumped off the floor and took careful steps toward the wings, almost as if they would fall apart if I got too close to them. I pointed at them, "How exactly do they work?"

"I used wax to connect the feathers and osier branches," father explained, running his long fingers over the edge of the wings where said osier branches were located, "I also have extra wax that will be used to attach the wings to our backs. Then, I'll teach you to fly."

"Can I learn right now?" I asked without thinking.

"As soon as I get these wings on you, I'll tell you what you need to know," he said while he set down the wings and walked over to a covered bowl in the corner of the room. He picked it up and carried it over to me, lifting up the cover. I looked inside to see that it was filled with a thick substance that was halfway between white and yellow in color. It smelled exactly how it looked. Father pointed to it, "You see that? That's the wax we're going to use." He made a motion with his hand telling me to turn around. "Careful, boy, it's real hot," he said in a low voice.

"Wait, wh-" I was cut off by scalding hot wax dumped on my back, then having a pair of hard wings jammed into my back next to my shoulder blades. I hissed and pain and swore under my breath as the wax dripped further south and traveled down my legs. My father held the wings in place, waiting for the wax to dry, which took about ten minutes.

I suddenly felt all the pressure of my father's hands leave my back. I only felt the wings, and they stayed on my back. I craned my neck, trying to get a good look at my back. They were strange wings, so ugly and un-matching and yet so beautiful and serene.

He set the bowl of wax down and turned to me. "The plan is that we'll jump out of the window, and the wind will pick up our wings. Move with your body," he swayed his body while speaking, demonstrating, "use your arms. There are just two major things I need to warn you about," he counted on his fingers, "One: stay away from the sun. The closer you get to the sun, the hotter it is. If it gets too hot, all the wax will melt, the wings will come loose, and you'll fall into the sea and drown. Two: do not fly too close to the sea. The wings will dampen and won't work properly," he put his hand on my shoulder and give it a shake, "Can you do that for me?"

I nodded my head, not really knowing what I was agreeing to. I had stopped listening when he mentioned wind picking up our wings. Our glorious, glorious wings! What's flight like? What does it feel like when the wind tickles past you?

"Icarus! You ready?" I snapped out of my mind to see my father, wings attached sitting on the window sill, motioning his hand toward the sea.

I nodded my head enthusiastically, wearing my biggest grin, "I'm more than ready!"

Father nodded. I walked up to him and got up on the window sill, squatting and holding my arms out in front of me. Father stood behind me, holding onto my back, minding the wings.

"3…2…1… jump!"

One moment, my feet were on the cold stone of the window sill, the next, they felt weightless. No other part of my body was touching anything, nothing was restricted. I wasn't in Crete anymore. I was…free. More free than I had ever felt, even when I wasn't locked up. I was moving through the sky, as it felt, naturally. The wind was blowing back my hair and licking my cheeks. I felt as though I would disappear and become part of the sky. I used my arms to push myself higher, yearning for the warmth of the sun and thrill of being higher up. What about sudden movements? I twisted my body to the side and thrust my head downwards. I flew down until I the sea was almost against my chest. I grinned at my reflection and dipped my hand in the water, causing long, wide ripples.

"Icarus! Don't you remember what I told you?"

My head shot up to where I heard my father yelling at me. He looked to be maneuvering pretty well, not moving a whole lot. But he looked furious at me. Was he trying to tell me to not be reckless? But this was so much fun!

"Sorry, Father, I can't hear you!" I flew up high again, much past the level he was flying at. As soon as I could feel the bliss of being up high again, I dropped a little. I was so confused, I hadn't done that, it just… happened. I tried to fly higher again, but I just went even lower.

"Icarus! Your wings are melting!" I heard my father yell. All the happiness I had felt from flying seemed to completely vanish.

"Melting? H-how?" I yelled back at him.

"You went to close to the sun and to close the sea, exactly what I told you _not_ to do!"

I swallowed. This was bad, I couldn't help but completely panic. "What do I do, Father? Help me!"

"I can't help you!" he yelled back.

I sunk lower and lower to the sea, when finally, one of the wings fell off. That was enough to send me plummeting.

I felt the wind lick my cheeks again, but this time, the wind was taunting me. I could barely see anything, the world around was just a giant blur that smelled like sea salt and felt chilly.

I could hear my brain giving up and dying, that's why I didn't feel it when I hit the water. I didn't feel it when I couldn't breathe anymore. I didn't feel it when I drowned.

Death… was painless.


End file.
